PAY CUTS of up to 15 per cent for senior civil servants are recommended in the latest report of the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector.
The report was delivered to the Department of Finance a number of weeks ago but has not yet been sent to the Department of the Taoiseach, nor has it come before the Cabinet for its consideration.
Senior political sources confirmed last night that cuts ranging from 8 per cent to 15 per cent were recommended in the document.
Due to the intense Dáil debate on the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) legislation, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has not yet had an opportunity to study the report in detail, prior to presenting it to his ministerial colleagues.
Mr Lenihan has previously suggested that senior civil service posts may be “overpriced”, adding that “we have to reduce our expenditure and the example for that has to come from the top”.
The Review Body on Higher Remuneration is a standing body, set up in 1969, whose primary function is to advise the Government on the general levels of remuneration appropriate to higher public servants, members of the judiciary and of the Oireachtas.
It is understood that the latest report also deals with the salaries of judges and political office-holders.
The group was instructed for the first time to draw comparisons between the pay of Irish public servants and the salaries of their peers in other European Union member states of similar size.
The Department of Finance, in a strong submission, said pay developments at senior public service level could have knock-on effects on pay at lower grades.
Although the review body’s recommendations are currently said to be “under lock and key” in the Department of Finance, reports of its content are likely to influence the outcome of social partnership talks.
Department officials are to meet representatives of the public sector unions tomorrow to discuss the Government’s plans to cut €1.3 billion from the public sector pay bill.
The Department of Finance refused to comment last night on suggestions that the Government was making private and informal approaches to the unions about the possibility of temporary cuts in allowances and overtime for the year 2010, followed by reductions in staff numbers in subsequent years.
For their part, the unions have formally requested the Government to set out its vision for the size and scale of the public service by 2013.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) is to launch its 10-point Plan for National Recovery in Dublin this afternoon. The plan is understood to call for an extension of the period of economic recovery to 2016-2017. Ictu has designated next Friday as a national day of protest with demonstrations planned for eight cities and towns.